Sheriff Nurse

Crawsu · Dec 12, 2008

I honestly don't think anyone should attempt corrections without at least a year of hospital nursing under your belt. Inmates are master manipulators, as are many patients in the hospital, but you need to have some experience. I really hated hospital nursing, but I learned a lot there that has served me well. I don't think my nursing judgement would be as good as it is without that experience. You will be responsible for making decisions that will impact your patients lives:do you feel prepared for that? Corrections is a great field, but my opinion is that you need good assessment skills and a broad knowoledge base to be a good correctional nurse. Do a year or more in the hospital and you will be ready to try it.

~~RN~~ · Dec 12, 2008

I do not know where your location is, or how large a facility your Sheriff's Office manages, but I ASSURE you that your nursing skills need to be excellent! As the RN, you would be responsible (with any other RN on duty) for the other LPNs, MAs, etc. working your shift. You must be comfortable in decision making, based upon facts and your evaluation of a situation. Usually the RN handles the clinic/walk-in/Nurse Sick Call/Infirmary area - all of which require sharp assessment skills and great documentation. I am certainly not saying that a new grad could not do the job; I have hired new grads who have been great on the job...what I am saying is that there is a necessary level of maturity and (skill/job/nursing) self-confidence that is mandatory for success in Corrections. Your patients will test you .....often. If you liked the Community health part of your nursing education, you will like Correctional Nursing, as your patients inside the wall mimic those seen in the larger community. There is great opportunity for patient education. If you are so-motivated, there are opportunities for you to increase your knowledge as well. Good luck in whatever you decide your path will be...if your chose the Sheriff's Office, let us know in 3 months or so how you are doing :).

crystalwomn · Dec 22, 2008

While we have had new grads who have done well, they usually have had some type of urgent care/ER or other hospital experience. As the others answering this thread have stated, as a correctional nurse you must be able to function independently, have a broad knowledge of a multitude of medical issues, have great assessment skills and the confidence to respond and handle some pretty bad emergencies as a first responder. You also must have leadership skills as you might be the only RN duty and responsible for supervising LVN staff or medical assistants. This is alot to ask of a new grad. I would recommend you get a year of acute care experience preferralby in the ER before taking on the correctional job. Some questions to ask your new employer would be what type of orientation you will receive, how long will it last and what kind of support system will you have once you are on your own.

Marin2x · Dec 22, 2008

I asked the nurse recruiter and she said being a new grad won't be a problem because I get 5 weeks of orientation with a preceptor. I also have two relatives (both RN supervisors) who work there and they told me I am not going to be by myself: I have 20 other nurses in my shift, plus doctors.

crystalwomn · Dec 22, 2008

Sounds like they have a pretty good program. Check out the NCCHC website and get a copy of the jail standards or prison standards. This will give you some idea about what types of P&P's should be in place. Make sure that if you are not comfortable at the end of five weeks they will work with you and give you the support you need to succeed.

Looking4Seaglass · Dec 27, 2008

Hi everyone. I am being offered a position in the sheriff department as an RN. It is a county jail. I already got a conditional letter of employment from the sheriff department and going for my physical exam next week. My question is that I am a new grad RN, with no hospital experience. Do you think it is wise of me to go to corrections right away? I mean somebody told me that the job itself is not hard and doesn't require a lot of nursing skills. I really hate working in a hospital when I was a nursing student. I talked with some RNs over there and alot of them left the hospital because they were burned out and the pay was a lot less than in jail. What do you think. Any opinions?

I would think your job in the jail system would be hard, I couldn't do it. Goodluck to you though!

BirdyOh · Feb 8, 2009

Hello Sheriff Nurse,

I work in a county jail and let me tell you, you need experience, experience, experience. Not sure who told you that you didn't need strong skills, they are flat out wrong. Correction nurses are basically the doctor and always the first responder. Your skills have to be top-notch and you'd better know what you are doing. You have to be confident, yet realize you will always be learning. We are extremely autonomous and generally what we decide to do, sticks. Doc is always on call and you bounce your ideas off of him, of course, you get your orders from him. But I would suggest you get a couple years of hospital experience, preferably ER or strong med/surg. Med/Surg is great because you see a whole host of problems.

Inmates typically are not the healthiest group of people. Besides a large homeless population, you have drug and etoh abusers, sexual offenders, cardiac, respiratory, cancer, dialysis, STD's, lice, scabies, rashes of all types, penile and anal discharges of some unknown nature, stabbings with shanks, cuts, broken bones, very poor dentition, malnutrition, surgical pts and all the wound care that comes with it, drains, picc lines and ports, pacemakers, chest painers (tons of those) reflux, pregnancies and all the details with that.....I could go on and on.

That's just a glimpse of what a corrections nurse deals with. Keep in mind, that when you have an inmate with any of these issues, it has to be taken care of right now! At least to them......what else do they have to do? If they think your methodology of treatment or timeliness was wrong, guess what? They can file a grievance on you.

Hope this gives you a bit of a picture on corrections. Despite how bad it sounds, I absolutely love it. Most times, the inmates are very appreciative of what you do. I work in an all male facility, sometimes they just want to see a female too. LOL At my facility, they are inmates, but we call them patients on paperwork. That's what they are. They can be funny, retrospective, creative and quite deep in their thoughts and about life. They can show genuine concern and they have feelings. I chose to work in corrections for many reasons. One of them? These fellas are a forgotten and often hated population of humans. Yes, some are monsters....but very few. Most have made a stupid mistake and are paying their debt, it doesn't mean they are sub-human, which the majority of the 'free' populations sees them as.

If you can't tell, I'm passionate about my job and being an advocate for them. If not me, then who else?

Jarnaes · Feb 8, 2009

The experiences gained in a year of Med-Surg or ER are priceless.

Just like everyone else have posted, to do well in the correctional setting you need excellent nursing skills. If not, you may have a very steep learning curve.

Another important point is to have a full understanding of both your facility's Policies & Procedures and the NCCHC standards. You will come across both correctional staff and inmates who think they know the standards better than you. Know your stuff.

crystalwomn · Feb 9, 2009

You had lots of very good answers and good advice. Please keep us posted on your progress.

RN_survivor · Apr 3, 2012

Hello Sheriff Nurse,
I work in a county jail and let me tell you, you need experience, experience, experience. Not sure who told you that you didn't need strong skills, they are flat out wrong. Correction nurses are basically the doctor and always the first responder. Your skills have to be top-notch and you'd better know what you are doing. You have to be confident, yet realize you will always be learning. We are extremely autonomous and generally what we decide to do, sticks. Doc is always on call and you bounce your ideas off of him, of course, you get your orders from him. But I would suggest you get a couple years of hospital experience, preferably ER or strong med/surg. Med/Surg is great because you see a whole host of problems.
Inmates typically are not the healthiest group of people. Besides a large homeless population, you have drug and etoh abusers, sexual offenders, cardiac, respiratory, cancer, dialysis, STD's, lice, scabies, rashes of all types, penile and anal discharges of some unknown nature, stabbings with shanks, cuts, broken bones, very poor dentition, malnutrition, surgical pts and all the wound care that comes with it, drains, picc lines and ports, pacemakers, chest painers (tons of those) reflux, pregnancies and all the details with that.....I could go on and on.
That's just a glimpse of what a corrections nurse deals with. Keep in mind, that when you have an inmate with any of these issues, it has to be taken care of right now! At least to them......what else do they have to do? If they think your methodology of treatment or timeliness was wrong, guess what? They can file a grievance on you.
Hope this gives you a bit of a picture on corrections. Despite how bad it sounds, I absolutely love it. Most times, the inmates are very appreciative of what you do. I work in an all male facility, sometimes they just want to see a female too. LOL At my facility, they are inmates, but we call them patients on paperwork. That's what they are. They can be funny, retrospective, creative and quite deep in their thoughts and about life. They can show genuine concern and they have feelings. I chose to work in corrections for many reasons. One of them? These fellas are a forgotten and often hated population of humans. Yes, some are monsters....but very few. Most have made a stupid mistake and are paying their debt, it doesn't mean they are sub-human, which the majority of the 'free' populations sees them as.
If you can't tell, I'm passionate about my job and being an advocate for them. If not me, then who else?

you have a big heart! i want u to be my nurse in the future :) hopefully not in jail, though!! LOL!